I was
honored to have two excellent band directors during high school. One of them
had a way of getting our band to “play beyond ourselves”. We had to be
disciplined to play in his band and he expected our BEST!! Sometimes he would
shout out “Push yourselves, push yourselves!!” Were there times when we kids
would rather “settle” for mediocre? Absolutely!! Would he allow us to be less
than what we could be? No.....why “settle” when so much more was possible??

I often
wonder about my spiritual life.....do I push myself in my spiritual life?Or am I willing to settle for reading a few
Bible verses here and there or being comfortable throwing out a prayer now and
then?I am NOT talking about “works
Salvation”....where we do things to impress God and gain “points” with Him.
Instead I am thinking about how much more I could know Him and see Him at work in my life and the lives of others if
I took my earth walk more seriously.

I am now in
the “fourth quarter” of my life, as they say. My opportunities to be what God
wants me to be will diminish as time marches on. That is true for ALL of us.
Decisions to leave it all on the field either need to be made or discarded.

The time is NOW. The place is HERE. There is
no time like the present. The promise of tomorrow is not always ours.

“But if anyone obeys His
word, God’s love is truly made complete in Him. This is how we know we are in
Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” I John 2:5-6 (NIV)